Either way, your banners are PRIME real estate—and the part of your page that gets the most shine.

This means they’re the first part of your page you should optimize.

This might seem obvious, but I’m always surprised at how many people don’t take FULL advantage of the banner.

Look at it this way:

We all want to know, “What’s in it for me?”

Right? Right.

Well, your banner is exactly where you let people know what you can do for them.

It’s where you hint at the:

Problems you can solve

Assets you have (and their benefits)

Fears and pains you can address

Opportunities you can lead the reader to

…and so on and so forth

I cover everything you need to know about making a world-class banner in my brand-new, 3-hour LinkedIn Recruiting Playbook course, but here are my key tips:

First, have your banner done professionally on Fiverr, or make it yourself using a service like Stencil or Canva. Paying someone or using a professional-grade tool will help your brand look the part of a successful, well-to-do business.

Second, maximize your banner’s effectiveness by adding text and visual elements. For example, in my own banner, I use 3 colors and add plenty of text to make sure my CTAs get noticed:

Last of all, remember that this isn’t Facebook or Twitter. The people using this network are professionals, so stay away from overly bright colors, “hypey” claims, and other B2C tactics.

Now let’s move on to tip #2…

On the Internet, anyone can say anything.

You can make any claims, promises, and exaggerations you want; nobody’s stopping you.

And that’s exactly what a lot of folks do!

So to demonstrate you’ve got nothing to hide, make a point of getting professional headshots.

This demonstrates you believe in what you’re doing enough to stick your face on it.

This is powerful. It’s personable. It makes people like and trust you.

And this isn’t just me saying it.

Research shows that LinkedIn profiles with photographs get 36x more messages than those without.

In other words, using a profile pic means you’re more likely to get a reply from that prospect or potential customer.

But that’s not all!

Photographs will also give you more page views.

The same study showed that having a photo gets you up to 2,100% more page views.

That’s right; all you need to multiply your LinkedIn page visits and messages by more than 20x is a photograph.

That’s a lot of bang for very little buck!

My advice?

Make your photograph the BEST representation of you

Someone that does this very well is EMP’s own Ferny Ceballos:

A few things to notice here.

First, Ferny is using professional photography

The shot from stage suggests he’s delivering a lecture to other professionals, which positions him as an authority

Finally, the photo itself is clean, with no garish colors or gestures

Put these factors together, and you’ve got a person who looks the part.

Now, you’re unlikely to have photos that look like Ferny’s.

But you can certainly get quality lighting, a friend with a dSLR and—if your budget allows—a professional photographer’s time.

Yes; I said “professional photographer.”

Lots of my followers tell me they feel awkward so much as thinking about one, but here’s the deal:

This means that you can serve the same content across most of your channels without a second thought.

In fact, this is the reason apps like Buffer and Hootsuite came about: to help you cross-post content across different platforms.

But here’s the problem.

LinkedIn isn’t like ANY of the above social platforms!

The same kind of messages that perform exceedingly well there—social updates, inspirational posts, upbeat videos—do not work on LinkedIn.

So what does this mean?

First, consider making completely-differentiated LinkedIn content.

Focus on providing value in short bursts, instead of pumping exposure with frequent messages.

Second, filter your LinkedIn content as much as you can.

Skip all the light n’ fluffy, feel-good stuff you use to fill up your followers’ timelines on Facebook.

Think “meat,” not “broth.”

Again: the person reading your message may be a C-Level exec, a busy entrepreneur, or a top-flight consultant.

So level with them with your very best content, instead of trying to sell to them as you would to a regular consumer.

Last of all, let’s talk about the things you should NEVER do on LinkedIn in my bonus 5th step…

I can’t say it enough: LinkedIn is a social network for professionals.

Because of its nature, LinkedIn gets a lot less user-generated content than Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, etc.

Also because of its nature, LinkedIn is a lot more likely to attract users who are less likely to be patient with your mistakes and faux-pas.

This means you should know (and avoid) the don’ts of LinkedIn marketing:

Being too social. Having manners is excellent. However, don’t mistake small talk and politeness for an earnest desire to socialize. Always be 100% clear about what you want from people, and what’s in it for them.

Being too frivolous. VPs don’t put up photos of what they did at Sue’s birthday party from last weekend—and neither should you. Skip the beach shots, the social photos, and the “radical” job titles (e.g., “Chief Customer Excellence Radiant Sunflower Unicorn Evangelist”). If you’re making videos, skip the Snapchat filters.

LinkedIn is the source of 80% of all online B2B leads

Which is a huge opportunity, but things can get pretty competitive out there.

So if you want to take full advantage of that 5x video viewership and get your cut of these hot, B2B prospects, you’ve got to know your way around the platform beyond just the 5 tips shared above.

One trick is to “snoop around” my LinkedIn profile, as well as the profiles of other big names in your specific niche, because If you implement what successful marketers actually DO (and not just preach), and use their ideas and tactics ethically, you’ll do well.

The course is a full 3 hours long and it covers everything I know about LinkedIn, including how I generated over $70k in income in just the past two months alone, exclusively using LinkedIn prospecting and recruiting strategies.

Plus I personally address all viewers’ questions, so you can be confident you won’t have any flagrant knowledge gaps.

To learn more, get all the details and see how you can immediately access this special event.

Evan Dimitrakopoulos - A.K.A. "The InstaMan" He is passionate about working with Network Marketers, Home Business Owners and Entrepreneurs, helping them successfully build their business. In his spare time he loves to cook, playing music and play with his kids.